‘
The Heathleigh herd has been crowned overall champion in the Western Herds Competition on the only two times entered
“We have a lot of progeny by Goldwyn and Goldwyn sons, but the most influential sires I’ve used would be Shottle and Ginary Twister. Both bulls have left hard wearing,
’ productive cows in the herd.
“I only use AI and choose to use smaller numbers of more bulls. Currently in the tank there is R E W Seaver, Monument Impression, Go-Farm Zebra, Pirolo Goldwyn Wyman,GEN-I BEQ Sammy and sexed Wa-Del Hayden, as well as Cogent and Genus young bulls.
“My ideal cow is a medium sized cow that has a good udder and good locomotion. The shed and cubicles are not built for big cows, so I need a functional cow that suits my system.”
Sexed semen is used on the better bred maiden heifers with Aberdeen- Angus semen used on some heifers with any Angus progeny sold to Blade Farming. Recently
embryos have been purchased privately to add new families without the risk
LEFT Everything in the herd is served to AI and recently embryos have been purchased to introduce new bloodlines.
64 THE JOURNAL APRIL 2015
of TB. Heifers have been born as a result of these embryos and Robert now has a Million Cocoa and a Talent Rachel, both in-calf heifers served to sexed semen. Adding to the genetic mix are further embryos bought through Semex from Canada, which are by Admiral and out of the Chelsea family. “Expanding the cow families with choice purchases is helping widen our genetic base.”
The herd is mainly summer and early autumn calving to fit with other farm enterprises getting the winter ration right is of vital importance, with the diet based on grass silage and a little maize with brewers grains added in when maize runs out and concentrate fed in the parlour. The herd averages 9484kg at 4.29%bf and 3.1%p.
Heifers are calved at 30 months, with surplus heifers sold at Beeston monthly sales. “We are building a regular customer base at Beeston and I’m pleased with the trade we get for fresh heifers.”
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